Blessed Amata of San Sisto, OP V (AC)
Died 1270. Amata, a Dominican nuns, was the co-foundress of Saint Agnes at Valle di Pietro, Bologna (Benedictines).

Aresius, Rogatus & Companions MM (RM)
Date unknown. The particulars about the martyrdom of these 17 Africans have been lost. Some martyrologies classify them with the Roman martyrs Basilides and others (Benedictines).

Asterius of Petra B (RM)
Died after 362. Conversion is possible. Asterius was a heretic Arian who converted and became bishop of Petra in Arabia. He earned the hatred of his former co-religionists by publishing the story of their intrigues at the Council of Sardica in 347. He was banished to Libya by Constantius and recalled by Julian the Apostate. Asterius took part in the Council of Alexandria in 362, and was chosen to be the bearer of letter from the council to the Church of Antioch. Asterius died shortly thereafter (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

Basilides, Tripos, Mandal & Companions MM (RM)
Died 275. A group of 23 Christians martyred at Rome on the Aurelian Way under Aurelian. They may be identical with the group headed by Basilides honored on June 12 (Benedictines).

Bogumilus of Gnesen, OSB Cam. B (AC)
(also known as Theophilus of Gnesen)
Born in Dobrow, Poland; died at Uniejow, Poland, 1182; cultus approved in 1925. Bogumilus studied in Paris, then returned to Dobrow where he served as a parish priest until he was appointed archbishop of Gnesen, Poland. As such he founded the Cistercian abbey of Coronowa. In spite of his wisdom and zeal his clergy paid little heed to his admonitions. He resigned in 1172 and retired to the Camoldolese monastery at Uniejow (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

Blessed Bonaventure Baduario, O. Erem. SA (PC)
Born in Peraga (near Padua), Italy, in 1332; died 1386. Bonaventure was professed as an Augustinian hermit at Padua. After having been general of the order, he was named cardinal-priest of Saint Caecilia--the first of his order to have received the honor. He was killed in Rome by an arrow, probably in retaliation for his defense of the rights of the Church (Benedictines).

Censurius of Auxerre B (RM)
Died 486. Successor to Saint Germanus, Bishop Saint Censurius governed the see of Auxerre from 448 to 486. He was buried in the church of Saint Germanus, which he himself built (Benedictines).

Crispulus and Restitutus MM (RM)
1st century. These martyrs are believed to have suffered under Nero, probably in Rome. Baronius and Rabanus Maurus assign them to Spain; however, no factual account of the two exists (Benedictines).

Evermund of Fontenay, OSB Abbot (AC)
(also known as Ebremundus)
Born in Bayeux; died c. 720. Saint Evermund was a married courtier. He founded several monasteries including Fontenay-Louvet in the diocese of Séez, where he became a monk and abbot with his wife's consent. She entered one of his foundations as a nun (Benedictines).

Getulius, Caerealis, Amantius & Primitivus MM (RM)
Died c. 120. Getulius, a Roman officer, is said to have been the husband of Saint Symphorosa. Upon his conversion to the faith, he resigned his commission and retired into the country. His brother Amantius, also a zealous Christian, remained a tribune in the legion. Getulius, his brother, and the two officers sent to capture him--and who were converted by Getulius--were clubbed to death at Tivoli, Italy, under Hadrian. Saint Symphorosa buried them in an arenarium on her estate (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

Blessed Henry of Treviso (AC)
(also known as Arrigo, Rigo)
Born in Bolzano, Tyrol, Italy; died June 10, 1315; cultus approved by Benedict XIV. Henry was the son of poor parents. Although he did not have the advantage of a formal education, he studied earnestly the ways of God. In his youth he left Bolzano to seek work in Treviso as a hired laborer. He applied himself to every task with unwearied cheerfulness, unbroken by any affliction and sanctified by a spirit of penance and recollection. He was diligent in attending at the whole divine office and all public prayers that he could. Daily he heard Mass with devotion and confessed his sins. When his work prevented attendance, he joined spiritually with those who sang the divine praises. He lived an abstemious life in order that he could secretly give more to the poor. But Henry never prayed to draw attention; he tried always to conceal his devotions and virtues from the eyes of others. His humility, however, was unmistakable; when others mocked him he answered with kind words and a prayer. In his old age he was given lodgings by a pious lawyer and lived on alms he collected daily--he never reserved anything for the next day but gave what he could to those more indigent than himself. When he died, an incredible variety of people came to view the body and say goodbye. The magistrates appointed three notaries to make a written account of the miracles wrought by Henry before and after his death. In total during the few days between his death and his burial 276 miracles were recorded. Every person sought to take some small relic, but there was so little: a hair shirt; a log of wood that served as a pillow; and twigs, cord, and straw that were his bed (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

Ithamar (Ythamar) of Rochester B (AC)
Born in Kent, England; died c. 656. In 644, Ithamar became the first Anglo-Saxon bishop in England when he was consecrated by Saint Honorius to succeed Saint Paulinus in the see of Rochester. The Venerable Bede relates that "though he was a man of Kent," he equalled his predecessors in piety and learning. In 655, Ithamar consecrated a South Saxon, Frithona or Saint Deusdedit, as archbishop of Canterbury. Because he had a reputation as a miracle-worker, Ithamar is titular patron of several churches. The appointment of Gundulf as bishop of Rochester in 1077, and its revival as a monastic chapter, led to extensive rebuilding. At that time Ithamar's relics were enshrined at Rochester and the miracles at his tomb recorded. His relics were translated again by Bishop John, who was cured of severe pain in the eyes by Ithamar's intercession (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Walsh).

Blessed John Dominici de Banchini, OP B (AC)
Born in Florence, Italy, 1376 (or 1350?); died in Hungary 1419; cultus confirmed in 1832; beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI.

John is an example of the triumph of spirit over difficulty, and an indication that God can use any type of instrument He chooses, if He has a certain work to be done. John was almost rejected by the Dominicans because he had such a severe speech defect that the superior felt he would never be able to preach--a real impediment in the Order of Preachers.

The saint was born into a poor Florentine family. His early years were noted for piety. In fact, if anyone came looking for him, his mother would say, "Go and look in the church. He spends most of his time there." He had a special love for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella, and he haunted it from early morning to late at night. It was not a surprise to anyone when, at the age of 17, he decided to enter the Dominican order.

Here several difficulties presented themselves. John had no background of education, which was absolutely necessary in an order of scholars. To make matters worse, he had the speech defect. Some of the fathers felt that he should support his parents, although they protested that this should not stand in the way of their son's vocation. It was two years before John was allowed to begin his novitiate at Santa Maria Novella. The order soon discovered the treasure they had. John excelled in theology and Sacred Scripture, and so he was sent, with the other superior students, to finish his studies in Paris.

Now he was face to face with the difficulty that his superiors had seen from the beginning. An ordained priest, member of a preaching order, he must fulfill his vocation by preaching. His superiors attempted to forestall any embarrassment by assigning him work in the house. John felt that the intervention of heaven was required, so with the utmost simplicity he prayed to Saint Catherine of Siena, who had just died, to cure him. The impediment disappeared, and John joyfully began to preach. He became one of the most famous Dominican preachers.

In 1392, after years of successful missionary work in all the cities of Italy, John was appointed vicar-provincial of the Roman province. It was a task that, both intellectually and spiritually, called for a giant.

The plague had cut into the order with such devastating effect that regular life barely existed. The convent of Santa Maria Novella had lost 77 friars within a few months; other convents were in even worse condition. The mortality had been higher among the friars than anywhere else, because they had gone quite unselfishly to the aid of the stricken people. However, this misfortune had left the order perilously understaffed, and there were a good many members who believed quite sincerely that the conditions of the time called for a mitigated observance of the rule. Many of the houses were already operating in this fashion. It was to be the principal work of Blessed John Dominici to right this condition, and bring back the order to its first fervor.

He began his work with a foundation at Fiesole. Before he had even erected the new convent, four young men received the habit, one of whom was Antoninus--future saintly archbishop of Florence. Two years later, two of the most gifted young artists in Italy, whom history would know as Fra Angelico and his brother, Fra Benedetto, received the habit. With these and other earnest young men, John Dominici set about the difficult work of building anew an order that had suffered a diminution of its original fervor. Soon the house at Fiesole,and others modeled upon it, could be described, as the first houses of the order were, the "homes of angels."

Difficult days were in preparation for John Dominici. He was appointed cardinal in 1407, named archbishop of Ragusa, and chosen as confessor to the pope. Due to schism, there were two claimants to the papacy. The situation grew even worse when, after another election, no less than three powerful men claimed to have been lawfully elected pope.

Largely through the diplomacy and wise counsel of John Cardinal Dominici, the rival claimants to the papal throne agreed to withdraw their claims, and the groundwork was laid for the election of a new and acceptable candidate. At this time, John Dominici publicly renounced his cardinalate, thus indicating to the enemies who accused him of political ambition that he cared nothing for honors in this world.

John was preaching in Hungary against the heresies of John Hus at the behest of the pope when he died. He was buried in the Church of Saint Paul the Hermit in Buda. Many miracles were worked at his tomb before it was destroyed by the Turks (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Landericus of Novalese, OSB M (AC)
Died 1050. Saint Landericus was a Benedictine monk of Novalese, Savoy, who was drowned in the Arc River by some malefactors whom he had reprimanded (Benedictines).

Landericus (Landry) of Paris B (AC)
Died c. 661. Landry was consecrated bishop of Paris in 650, and soon perceived that some proper institution was needed to care for the many sick poor of the city. Close by his cathedral he built the first major hospital in the city, and dedicated it to Saint Christopher. So great was the need for this hospital that even Landry's munificence scarcely cared for those who, through no fault of their own, needed care and attention. The Parisians used to say that here in every single bed was a sick person, a dying person, and a dead body. The hospital later changed its name to the Hôtel-Dieu, and still today, north of Notre Dame, you can see the modern successor of Landry's great foundation. His generosity was so great that in times of famine, Landry sold or pawned the sacred vessels and his own furniture in order to relieve the suffering of the poor. Landry and 23 other bishops subscribed to the charter Clovis II gave to Saint-Denis Abbey in 653. Saint Landry was buried in the church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, then called Saint Vincent's, where his relics, except two bones given to the parish of Saint-Landry in 1408, are kept in a silver shrine. He is honored with an office in the new Paris Breviary (Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

Blessed Mary Magdalen of Carpi, OSM V (AC)
Died 1546. Mary Magdalen was a Servite lay-sister at Carpi who collected alms for her community. Her relics were elevated in 1611 (Benedictines).

Maurinus of Cologne, Abbot M (RM)
Date unknown. Saint Maurinus was an abbot, but we are not even sure of which abbey or when. He may have governed Saint Pantaleon's in Cologne. He is venerated as a martyr, but the circumstances are unknown (Benedictines).

Maximus of Naples BM (RM)
4th century. Maximus became the tenth bishop of Naples in 359. He died in exile and is honored as a martyr (Benedictines).

Oliva of Palermo VM (AC)
(also known as Olive, Olivia)
9th century. Oliva is said to have been a Sicilian girl who was captured by the Saracens when she was 13 years old and taken to Tunis. There she converted so many to Christ that she was martyred. She is held in high veneration by the Islamics, who named the great mosque of Tunis in her honor, as well as by Christians at Palermo and Carthage. Unfortunately, Oliva is a fictional character (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

Timothy of Prusa BM (RM)
Died 362. Saint Timothy, bishop of Prusa, Bithynia, was martyred under Julian the Apostate (Benedictines).